Perhaps one measure of the power you are exerting is in how great the force is that comes out to oppose you. What you find pushing against you tells you just how much force you are bringing to bear.
What are you pushing against? What is pushing against you?
“The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth ― that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community ― and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.”
― Wendell Berry
What do you do to promote the commonwealth of your neighborhood or community?
If we remain focused on the long view, the big picture, the grand goal, we risk missing what is right in front of us. The daily details of the immediate world matter. But if we never lift up our eyes to the distance we will never be able to choose where we are headed.
How to you balance your focus on the long vs. the close view?
“In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,’ and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.”
― Carl Sagan
When have you changed your mind about something religious or political?
We cannot know the future, but we can be sure that it is being shaped in this very moment. Perhaps we need to work backward, imagining the future we dream of so that we can take the steps right now that will lead in that direction.
What is a dream that you hold for the future? What will you do today to create that future?
